


Of Fashion and Fantasy

by RunawayCaboose



Series: Punk Isn't Dead [1]
Category: Sing Street (2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bookstores, Cussing, M/M, Punk Fashion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-19
Updated: 2017-03-19
Packaged: 2018-10-07 20:58:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10369287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunawayCaboose/pseuds/RunawayCaboose
Summary: Conor is tall and has too much self confidence, but he needs it to be able to wear sweaters and button-ups and dress like someone's uncle. Eamon has absolutely no confidence, Conor suspects that it's actually below zero, but Eamon is cute and just keeps coming back to the bookstore that Conor works in.





	

The first time the pair walk into the bookstore, Conor is kind of… Well, surprised, to say the least. They look so put together and they just kind of radiate power. At least, at first glance they do, dressed in dark clothes and leather jackets. They’ve totally got the punk fashion down and they look incredibly out of place in the tiny bookstore with its soft lighting and mismatched chairs and Conor in an oversized sweater standing awkwardly behind the counter even though he definitely fits in with his surroundings. 

There’s no one else in the store and Conor just kind of watches them pick their way through the shelves, the guy keeps being handed books by the taller girl and he just holds them carefully in his arms, occasionally pulling one of the shelf himself and usually putting it back. Eventually they make their way to the counter and Conor has to pretend like he hasn’t been watching them as the guy sets the books down gingerly.

“Nice shop you’ve got here.” The woman compliments, smiling, her lipstick is dark and she just seems like a nice person. “A real good selection of books for such a small place.”

“Thank you.” Conor returns, scanning their books one at a time. “You picked a lot of good books, and I don’t say that often.” The woman laughs.

“Thanks! This one,” She elbows the man next to her, who looks down at the floor, “made most of the choices, I just had to find them. I swear, he loves books more than anything else, it’s horrible. You should see his apartment, just full of books.” She hands her card over to Conor, who scans it quickly. 

“Shut up, Raphina.” The guy murmurs, barely looking up to glare at his friend and there’s a faint blush visible on his cheeks. Raphina rolls her eyes and grabs the bag that Conor holds out to her, pocketing her card.

“Thanks again.” She calls over her shoulder as the two walk out of the store. Conor watches them walk out and down the street as far as he can see through the shop windows. That boy was cute and had a good taste in books and Conor may or may not have a slight crush on the boy in the leather jacket because, well, why wouldn’t he? He definitely has a crush. 

The pair keep coming back every few days and Conor is kind of amazed because each time, they buy anywhere above five books and then they’re back two or three days later. Either they only read some of the books or don’t read them all before coming back or read extremely quickly, but either way, Conor is impressed by their dedication to literature and it never, ever occurs to him that they might have some other reason for coming back. 

Glasses, as Conor has taken to calling the guy who’s name he still hasn’t learned even though he’s been coming to the shop for three weeks, has one of the best tastes in books that Conor has ever seen. Conor tries to strike up a conversation with him one day because he’s talked with Raphina before, but never Glasses.

“I’ve read this book before.” Conor tells Glasses, scanning it and flipping through the pages quickly. “It’s so good and, boy, what an ending! I don’t want to spoil it for you, though.” Conor chuckles and Raphina smiles and Glasses remains quiet for a few seconds too long, looking like a deer caught in front of a car. 

“Cool.” Glasses says eventually and avoids meeting Conor’s eyes. 

“One of your favourite authors, right?” Raphina prompts him to continue and Glasses looks at her before nodding.

“Yeah, I, uh, I like her other series a lot.” Glasses says and wow, Conor could not have been more off with his first observations. Conor has never met someone with such great fashion sense who is able to pull off the punk look who is so incredibly, painfully shy.

Nonetheless, it’s a good exchange and Conor’s just glad he finally got Glasses to talk to him. 

It’s been a few months and Conor is convinced that the pair who just keep coming back to the bookstore are models. Like, how else would they be able to have such good fashion sense and such an immense wardrobe and make things as ridiculous as double denim look good? Because Glasses pulls it off so incredibly well and Conor kind of hates him for it. Like, they’re not models, of course they’re not, but they so totally could be. He’s heard the phrase ‘serving looks’ before, but he never quite understood it until he saw the pair. And Glasses looks pretty incredible in makeup and one time he came in wearing this dark lipstick and eyeliner the colour of his shirt and it was so cute because he looked so soft and so angry at the same time. He tells this all to Darren while they’re restocking the shelves. 

“Jesus Christ.” Darren shakes his head, pushing a book into its place. “I’ve never met someone who is so incredibly head over heels for a person they’ve exchange about, let’s say fifty words with. And I’m being gracious with the word count here, keep that in mind, Conor. Fifty is being gracious.”

“Shut up.” Conor rolls his eyes, handing a few novels up to Darren, who’s standing on a step stool so he can reach the top shelf. “He’s just shy or anxious or something, I’m going to ask him out eventually.”

“You don’t even know his name.” Darren points out.

“That’s where you’re wrong!” Conor sounds much too happy about this. “I learned it the last time they came in, it’s Eamon.”

“Yeah, and how’d you learn it?” Darren asks, looking down at Conor, already smug. 

“Uh, well, he may or may not have tripped over the carpet and dropped all of his books and Raphina may or may not have yelled his name and… Yeah.” Conor looks down, gathering some more books in his arms from the box.

“You couldn’t ask him? You had to wait for him to trip and fall? Conor, you’re a mess.” Darren laughs and Conor huffs.

“I am going to fucking push you.” Conor threatens. “You just watch, Darren, I’m going to ask him out eventually.” Darren raises an eyebrow. “I will! I will. Just when he comes in alone, probably.”

“If he’s as shy as you think, do you think he’ll really ever come in alone?” Darren questions and Conor glares at him because, yes, that is definitely a hole in his plan that he had not thought of before. 

But Conor gets his opportunity because the next time Eamon comes, he’s alone and he taps his painted nails on the counter while Conor is checking him out. Checking his books out, not checking Eamon himself out, though Conor has definitely done that in the past. 

Conor has just handed Eamon back his card when he starts talking.

“So…” Eamon bites his lip, pushes up his glasses, Conor has never met someone more nervous in his entire life. “I, uh, I had a question for you and, I mean, you don’t have to answer, like, it’d be cool if you did, but you definitely don’t have to, but it’s- I mean, what I’m trying to say is-”

“Hey, calm down, it’s okay!” Conor reassures him, smiling. “I think you just said more words than you’ve ever said to me before.” Eamon blushes, pushing his glasses up again even though they hadn’t slid down. “You’re cute.” Eamon looks at him, surprised. “Do you want to get coffee sometime?”

“Yes?” Eamon sounds bewildered. “Yeah, yeah, I do actually, yes. I’d love that.”

“Cool, that’s good, it would’ve been kind of awkward if you’d turned me down.” Conor laughs. “So, does tomorrow work for you? I get off from here at four on Fridays, so if you’re here then we can walk to the coffee shop around the corner.”

“Sounds great.” Eamon nods, smiling, he seems so relieved. “I will see you then, I’m just gonna- I’ll take my books and go, then. Yeah, that’s what I’ll do, go, bye, Conor.” He takes his books from the counter before Conor can offer him a bag and practically runs out the door. 

“That was fucking gay.” Darren calls from somewhere in the shelves.

“Shut up, Darren, you’re just jealous. And short. You’re really fucking short, man.” Conor hears Darren’s offended squawk and feels completely satisfied with his retort. 

**Author's Note:**

> yeah, dude, another multi-part series!! as always, you can find me @ taptaptapping.tumblr.com and i hope you enjoyed reading this


End file.
